ALABAMA QUOTESHead Coach Anthony GrantOpening statement:"I'm just really proud of our guys today. We were kind of slow starting off offensively, and some of our plays didn't go to plan, but we always talk about the fact that it's a 40-minute game. We gave up some easy baskets out of transition and in the press, but in the second half, we got some shots to fall and our defensive intensity was the difference in the game."

On second half start:"That was a big shot by (Trevor) Releford to start the second half to give us a little bit of a lead going into the press. Many of our guys stepped up today both offensively and defensively which is the mark of a good team.

On overall play of Levi Randolph:"He was due. He's worked extremely hard and has been very positive, and I'm proud of him for the effort today. It paid dividends."

On Carl Engstrom's impact in the second half:"I thought Carl had a huge impact in the second half. He doesn't score a whole lot but he gets you blocks. If he didn't block, he altered a lot of the shots they took. He got his hands on a few offensive rebounds that our guys were able to get. I thought he was huge in the second half."

On the play of Alabama's bench:"JaMychal had a big impact in the game, and it was great to bring his leadership back. I think it was good for him; he needed to get back on the court. You could see the excitement in his face to get back all day long. I'm really happy for him."

On Trevor Lacey's injury:"He didn't re-sprain it. Based on what happened two days ago, it was remarkable that he was even able to come back today at all. It's a testament to his hard work and toughness that he was able to take the court today. He aggravated it along the baseline as you saw. Based on the past three days, we decided to hold him out. He'll be ready Wednesday hopefully."

Levi Randolph, Guard #20On his aggressive approach and career high in points:"I was just trying to be aggressive, but I couldn't have done any of it without my teammates. They drove, and when they kicked it out, I tried to knock down a few shots. With the bigs, you get them the ball on the inside and without them none of that could have happened."

On what changed in the second half that allowed the team to build such a big lead:"We said we were going to turn up the intensity, turn up our defense, and just play with a lot of passion."

On how this game was just as intense and physical as against Arkansas:"Well you know, we had a tough game against Arkansas. We've got (athletic trainer) John Morr in there and he gets our bodies back and ready for the next game."

JaMychal Green, Forward #1On how good it felt to get back out on the court:"It felt good, especially to come out with a win. It just felt great to be back out there with my team and having fun again."

On how much the younger guys have grown in the past month:"They've grown a lot; their confidence has grown, and they just got better. They've gotten better throughout the season and their confidence is growing at the right time. There's no better time for that so we can finish strong."

On what they did differently to stop Mississippi State's inside game:"I think Coach (Anthony) Grant got on to us about how they're bigs dominated us last game so we took that personally to shut them down. So I think we did a great job there tonight."

MISSISSIPPI STATE QUOTESHead Coach Rick StansburyOpening Statement:"I thought we took the last play of the half into the locker room. We came out in the first five minutes of the second half and played just like that. That was the basketball game. We went in at halftime with a play that was not very smart by Dee Bost. We were just hanging our heads. We came out that second half and went down by five in the first 30 seconds. They knocked down a three pointer in their first possession. It might not have even been 30 seconds. They hit three three's in the first three or four minutes. From there it was just a battle and you are trying to battle back. That was basically the game. I give Alabama some credit. They jumped up and made some shots. Three of those six three pointers came in those first three or four minutes of the second half."

On Levi Randolph's job for Alabama:"He made shots. He made seven threes on the year if I'm correct. He was two-for-two tonight. He made those mid-range jump shots and played very well for them."

On Arnett Moultrie playing 40 minutes but only getting three shots:"They doubled him every time he caught it. He got a bunch of catches and they ran and doubled him. They played a lot of zone and kept him from catching that ball. You can only do so many things. When you throw it to him in man and they double team him, you have to kick it out and that's what they did. You have to knock down some shots coming out of that then."

On having some bad offensive possessions and not getting the shots they wanted:"In the first half we didn't play great but we had the game at our pace. We were really defending them. We held them to 22 points basically until we gave up the three pointer right there at halftime. It was a huge, bad play."

On whether Alabama was any different than the last time they played against his team:"It's a little different playing them here. That's the biggest difference. They jumped up and made a few more shots tonight probably. Again, for 20 minutes we had the game at our pace and we were doing things that we wanted to do. We have a three or four minute bad stretch there and you can't let that game get away from us. We scrambled from that point on."

On the five-game losing streak and possibly knocking them out of the NCAA tournament:"I don't worry about that. If you win enough, you get in. Three of those were on the road and one was a home game against Kentucky. That's not very easy sometimes. I'm not worried about that stretch. I'm worried about winning the next basketball game. If you win enough games you get in."

Dee Bost, Guard #3On Alabama's performance in the beginning of the second half:"They hit a lot of threes and made big plays at the beginning of the half."

On Rodney Hood being injured and not able to play:"That changed a lot for us. You know he's a big time scorer for us and a good defender."

On having a five game losing streak:"It's really disappointing. It hasn't been fun. It hasn't been exciting."

Arnett Moultrie, Forward #23On what Alabama did to defend him so well:"Nothing really. I got trapped a few times, but that still shouldn't be an excuse for me only getting three touches."

On five game losing streak and most likely not going to the NCAA tournament after being ranked earlier in the season:"I was real disappointed because I see it slipping away right in front of our eyes, but all we need is one win and I believe we'll be able to go on a winning streak."

On the chemistry of the offense:"Chemistry shouldn't be a problem this deep into the season."